The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
IEEE standards 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11h, 802.11n, 802.16, and 802.20, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, define several different standards for configuring wireless networks and devices. According to these standards, network devices may be operated in either an infrastructure mode or an ad-hoc mode. In the infrastructure mode, network devices communicate with each other through an access point (AP). In the ad-hoc mode, wireless network devices communicate directly with each other and do not employ an AP.
Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 10 is shown in an infrastructure mode as defined by IEEE 802.11. The wireless network 10 includes one or more network devices 12-1, 12-2, . . . , and 12-N (collectively referred to as network devices 12) and one or more APs 14. The network devices 12 and the AP 14 transmit and receive wireless signals 16 over an RF channel. The wireless network devices may include routers, switches, gateways, modems, or other network devices. The network devices may be included within client stations such as laptop computers, audio devices, such as speakers or video devices, such as high definition televisions. The AP 14 is a node in a network 18. The network 18 may include other nodes such as a server 19 and may be connected to a distributed communications system 20, such as the Internet.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a second wireless network 24 operates in an ad-hoc mode. The second wireless network 24 includes multiple network devices 26-1, 26-2, . . . , and 26-M (collectively referred to as network devices 26) that transmit and receive wireless signals 28. The network devices 26 collectively form a LAN and communicate directly with each other. The network devices 26 are not necessarily connected to another network.
The network devices 26 may not continuously transmit data to and receive data from each other. For example, the network devices 26 may implement a power savings mode when one of the network devices 26-1 does not have data to exchange with the other network devices 26-2 and 26-M. Each network device 26 may transmit data in a deterministic order. For example, the network devices 26 may transmit data sequentially in time.